Hey! Good news: if you can be in Toronto this Saturday night, there are still tickets for Eyad Zahra's new film The Taqwacores. (Not to be confused with Omar Majeed's 2010 documentary, Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam -- also very worthwhile. You should see that, too.) Both films were inspired in different ways by Michael Muhammad Knight's self-published 2003 novel, The Taqwacores, which invented--and then spawned--an entire subculture of Muslim punk rock.
I'm really excited, because ever since I read the novel many years ago, I wanted to make this film. I knew I'd never manage to assemble the time, money, and skills to do so, though, so the next best thing was hoping that someone else would do a bang-up job. The film's been showing in festivals all over, and winning accolades, so I have high hopes.
Anyway, it's been recently included in this year's FILMI South Asian Film Festival in Toronto, and will be showing Saturday night (October 2) at the Revue Cinema on Roncesvalles. And one of the stars, Noureen DeWulf, will be there for a Q&A after the screening. Tickets are available online here. I'll be there, and I'll have Philosufi's review of the film for you soon.
Here's a current list of upcoming screenings:
- 2010 Ourense International Film Festival
Ourense, Spain - Oct 1-9 - 2010 FILMI South Asian Film Festival
Toronto, Canada - October 2nd - 2010 Scottsdale International Film Festival
Scottsdale, AZ - Oct 2nd & Oct 3rd - 2010 Warsaw International Film Festival
Warsaw, Poland - Oct 8-17 - 2010 BFI London Film Festival
London, England - Oct 13-28 - 2010 Eastern Oregon Film Festival
La Grande, Oregon - Oct 21-23 - 2010 San Diego Asian Film Festival
San Diego, CA - Oct 26 - 2010 Virginia Film Festival
Charlottesville, VA - Nov 5-8
Keep an eye on The Taqwacores website, or its Facebook page, for news and details. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer:
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